Mel Gorham (born Marilyn Schnier, October 27, 1959) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Violet in

Wayne Wang Wayne Wang (; born January 12, 1949) is a Hong Kong–American director, producer, and screenwriter. Considered a pioneer of Asian-American cinema, he was one of the first Chinese-American filmmakers to gain a major foothold in Hollywood ...

's films ''

Smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

'' and ''

Blue in the Face ''Blue in the Face'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster. It stars Harvey Keitel leading an ensemble cast, including Giancarlo Esposito, Roseanne Barr, Michael J. Fox, Lily Tomlin, Victor Argo, Mira Sorvino, Lo ...

''. Gorham is from

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and is of

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. Gorham's improvised rendition of Peggy Lee's "

Fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point. There is not a single agreed-upon upper limit for normal temperature with sources using val ...

" in ''Blue in the Face'' garnered her much critical acclaim and press. Major film roles in ''

Curdled Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming, and coalescence. Curdling is purposeful in the production of cheese curd and tofu; und ...

'' and ''

Cop Land ''Cop Land'' is a 1997 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by James Mangold. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and Robert De Niro, with Peter Berg, Janeane Garofalo, Robe ...

'' followed. In 1997, Gorham was then cast to star in an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

loosely based on her life titled ''

Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

''. But after the pilot was filmed, the producers replaced her with

Constance Marie Constance Marie Lopez (born September 9, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Angie Lopez in ''George Lopez'' (2002–2007), and Marcela Quintanilla (mother of Selena) in the film ''Selena'' (1997). She portrayed Reg ...

. Gorham returned to the world of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

theater where she began. After a long absence, she returned to film with a role in Wayne Wang's 2001 film ''

The Center of the World ''The Center of the World'' is a 2001 American drama film directed by Wayne Wang and shot on digital video. It stars Peter Sarsgaard as a dot-com millionaire who hires a drummer/stripper ( Molly Parker) to stay with him in Las Vegas for three ...

''. In 2012, she retired from show business and currently resides in South Beach.

Filmography

* 1990 -

Awakenings ''Awakenings'' is a 1990 American drama film directed by Penny Marshall. It is written by Steven Zaillian, who based his screenplay on Oliver Sacks's 1973 memoir '' Awakenings''. It tells the story of neurologist Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Willia ...

as Nurse Sara * 1993 -

Carlito's Way ''Carlito's Way'' is a 1993 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, based on the novels '' Carlito's Way'' (1975) and '' After Hours'' (1979) by Judge Edwin Torres. The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp. It stars Al Pa ...

as Pachanga's date * 1995 -

as Violet * 1995 -

The Perez Family ''The Perez Family'' is an American comedy film released in 1995 about a group of Cuban refugees in America who pretend to be a family. It stars Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, Anjelica Huston, Chazz Palminteri, and other well-known actors. It w ...

as Vilma & Raquel * 1996 -

as Elena * 1997 -

as Monica Lopez * 1997 -

Wishful Thinking Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs based on what might be pleasing to imagine, rather than on evidence, rationality, or reality. It is a product of resolving conflicts between belief and desire. Methodologies to examine wishful thin ...

as Lourdes * 2001 -

as Roxanne * 2005 - Sueno as Gloria * 2006 - Delirious as Tish * 2007 - Mother's Day Massacre as Dolores * 2009 - American Cowslip as Kimberly * 2011 - A Talent for Trouble as Francine Hawk * 2011 -

The Trouble with Cali ''The Trouble with Cali'' is an American drama film directed by Paul Sorvino and written by his daughter Amanda Sorvino. It stars Laurence Leboeuf, Glynnis O'Connor, Raviv Ullman and RZA. The film will not be released in theaters as a distribut ...

as Xiomara

References

External links

*
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorham, Mel Living people American film actresses American stage actresses American people of Cuban descent American people of Jewish descent Actresses from Miami 1959 births